First Love
by DiNozzo and Gibbs addict
Summary: What happens when a friend of Chunk's joins the team and along with it has problems with a detective that she works with. Will Bull be able to help her with him and will the two of them end up becoming more than friends?
1. Chapter 1

**Bull**

 **Chapter 1.**

For Tess it had been an amazing year, but never in a million years had she expected the highlight of it to have been falling in love with one Dr Jason Bull.

She and Bull had met via her friendship with Chunk Palmer. She and Chunk had met a few years before in a bar where she'd been out to cheer a friend up after having split up from her boyfriend. As they were having the drink the boyfriend had followed them. He then jumped to conclusions and thought that Louise and Tess were now seeing each other because of Louise being bisexual. When he and Louise started arguing he started to lash out and one of his hits ended up connected with Tess. With that Chunk got himself in amongst them and managed to get hold of Billy and kept hold of him until the cops turned up. After giving them a short statement when they arrived and a promise to go in and give a full statement later. He then stayed with Tess as she got checked out at the hospital. After that he saw her safely home and from that moment they became the closest of friends.

Tess had specialized in forensics, computer forensics and also psychology. She'd ended up just using the forensics and worked for the police. So when Chunk had started working for Bull she did find it all really interesting, but she and Bull's paths had never crossed.

Eventually of course that had to change and they finally did meet. It happened during a murder case that she worked on the forensics for involving a detective Sprong. She started to get suspicious that something wasn't right with the case and she felt that Sprong's arrest of the suspect was a bit too fast. And she also had some suspicions about the forensics itself. In the end because she was getting herself so worked up and worried about it she actually went and sort Chunk out and find him. Seeing as normally she'd call him and they'd meet up for lunch or something. But the TAC team had been involved in quite a big case. Which as it had continued and they'd had quick catch ups on the phone. Had made her laugh because of his moaning about the client they were working with. Because she didn't have any sense of style and kept trying to insist that he'd got no sense of style either and didn't know what he was talking about. In the end she guessed where Chunk may be on the night she decided to do something about her problem. Because earlier that day she'd been in court on a different case she'd worked on giving her evidence on the forensics for it. Just as she was leaving the courtroom she was in. She saw a group of people leaving another courtroom and they were all shaking hands and congratulating each other. It was then that she spotted Bull amongst the throng and guessed that their case was now all over. Not only that as she made her way past them to leave the court building. She and Bull made eye contact with each other and just did a slight smile. So with knowing their case was over and knowing the bars that the team tended to go to and eventually found the one that they were in. Because of not wanting to disturb them all she got herself a drink and sat where Chunk would know where she was.

Eventually he joined her and as he sat down next to her he said "Come on out with it, what's wrong?"

She sighs and replies "I don't know what to do. Detective Sprong has a case that I'm on. He's already got a suspect in custody. I don't know something just doesn't feel right. I don't know if he's somehow fixing the evidence, but it needs to be sorted out and I just don't know what to do or where to go."

He then asks "Can you prove that he's fixed the evidence?"

She replies "I most probably could do it, if I had the time to do more extensive tests. But you know how busy things get there and I just haven't got the time to do them."

He says "Leave it with me, but try to collect everything together and I'll see what I can do for you." As she squeezes his hand, she does a small smile and says "thanks." He then invites her to join the others which she does do and ends up having a much better night now that she has managed to confide in someone about things."

The next morning she does manage to do as Chunk told her to and gets things squirreled away. She's then not that surprised when a bit later on one Jason Bull comes walking into the lab to find her. As they talk he explains to her that he's taken the suspects case on. But he has also gone and cleared it for her to join the team and that she can concentrate on that evidence only. While he's talking to her detective Sprong comes rushing in with an evidence bag in hand saying that it had just been found in the suspect's apartment. Instantly her hackles go up because she knows that the suspect's apartment was searched originally when he was arrested. Because of Sprong then noticing Bull there he says to him indignantly "And you are?"

He replies without revealing too much because of realizing who he is because of the look on Tess's face speaking volumes without her having done any introductions "Just needing help with a case. Don't worry she can still deal with whatever it is you need." As he then gives her a sly look of pretend that you're doing it, she does so and then says to Sprong that it would be ready for him in about an hour, but she will let him know. After that Sprong leaves and after waiting a while to make sure that they're clear of him, she gets everything packed up with Bull helping where he can with it, before the two of them finally walk out of the building.

When they then get to TAC Bull shows her around a little bit, before then taking to her to an area just off the main section. As he opens the door and she walks in her eyes nearly pop out of her head at the sight as she finds herself standing in a fully equipped lab. Not only that but just off the lab she has also got a small but gorgeous office, which has windows looking out onto great views of New York around them. As she stammered out "Thank you." He replied with a smile "I hope that will help you get what we need. If there's anything else that you need just shout. As I do agree with you, there is something off with Sprong and why the look you did over the evidence he bought in?"

She replies "It's because the apartment was searched after the suspect was arrested, so why did he do another one?"

He answers "I don't know, but it is very strange. Let's get things sorted out in here. Then you can join everyone for lunch and get to know everyone."

She says with a smile "Ok and thanks again for everything."

Over the next couple of months or so Tess starts to feel that once again she is loving her job, which is a love that she never thought she would get back again. Because even though there were all the other forensic scientists round her as she worked, they would only exchange pleasantries with one another as they worked, so all day she would just feel alone. Because other than perhaps a couple of people they wouldn't really interact together all that much. Compared with other police precincts that she'd worked in. Not only that she did also have a bit of a history with one detective Sprong as well and a few years ago he had turned into a bit of a stalker with her. She never could work out the reason for it and had never told anyone else about it, surprisingly despite how close she and Chunk were she hadn't even told him about it. No matter how many times she changed both her mobile numbers and home numbers, he still seemed to find out what the new ones were and the calls would start all over again. She'd also got a secret that was personal to herself and had guessed that he'd found out about it and wanted to do something about it for her, but he just never seemed to take no for an answer. With her disappearance so far from the police lab it seemed like he was finally leaving her alone.

The other thing that she loved about her job now. Was that even though she was still alone in the lab, she never was alone. Because everyone was in and out of the lab and they would chat. Plus if at anytime she was waiting for results to come through and she hadn't got anything else to test or reports to type up. Unless they were in court. She would go and watch the team in action and was totally fascinated by the whole process of their work. Not only that because of the evidence being called into question in the case Bull along with Benny as their clients lawyer had played a long shot in going directly to the police chief who had managed to get the case temporarily suspended while it was being investigated and she had got her findings. Not only that she and Cable had soon become best friends, and during one case they were working on she'd helped Cable get into some hidden E mails that she'd not been able to get into. Not only that she'd also managed to give the whole team a full psychological report from those hidden E mails. So because of that Bull ended up putting the two of them together more and more. Which had helped to bring her passion back for both computer forensics and psychology, in fact she was just loving her job now!

Of course with her working at TAC it also bought she and Chunk closer together in their friendship. But after having tried over the years to bring she and Bull together, with the start of her new job she had warned him that now she and Bull were in even more closer proximity to one another, he wasn't to dare attempting it again. He had promised her that he wouldn't do it, but somehow she didn't believe him. Even so somehow she started to wonder if the process was happening a bit more organically between the two of them, because she knew her feels for Bull were growing more and more with each passing day. Because she really loved watching him work as well as in the personal interactions that the two of them had each day. Especially as she had always been an early bird, but most of all really hated having breakfast. Even with getting up early and weather permitting either going outside for a run or would do a treadmill run everyday. So because of that after showering and changing she would then grab just a coffee on the way in and would almost inevitably be the first one in. She didn't know how he did it but somehow Bull had worked out what she did in the mornings. So all of a sudden he started to come in not long after she had done. On his way in he would get breakfast for the two of them and he'd drag her out of the lab so that they could then sit and have their breakfast together. After a few days of it she was soon finding that she was loving breakfast after all. Most of all though she was loving that private moment that the two of them were sharing together, chatting in the peace and quiet alone. Although what did make a laugh as well everyday was the eye roll that he would do as he said "ok let's get to it." When everyone else would start to come in nosily around them. Even on days when they were also in court he would still make sure that the two of them would stick to the routine still. She was also finding that she was growing to love any little touches that the two of them would share sometimes and if she was ever on the receiving end of one of his winks, well it would just make her weak at the knees!

Of course just as she started to feel happier in herself and with everything that was happening in her life, it had to all come crashing down. First of all the anonymace calls started again, followed by the E mails and letters. She had a feeling that she knew where they were coming from, especially when in the letters it started to threaten her about her finding out the truth in the case that she was working on.

On that fateful day a few days later when Tess finally worked out the truth that detective Sprong was really the murderer. Because of the others being in court and the rest doing their thing for them. She was able to be quiet in her office writing the reports up for Bull. And because of the quiet she was able to sit and think as she did them and finally made a decision that she was going to tell Bull and Chunk about what was going on. The only trouble was that day she was finishing up early because she'd got a doctors appointment. So in the end she left the finished report on her desk thinking about giving it to Bull the next day. After that her plan was to go home and change following the appointment, and then she was going to find out if they'd finished at court to then get Bull and Chunk on their own so she could tell them the truth. But then as she was changing she all of a sudden heard from the front of the apartment windows smashing and what sounded like bullets coming through them. So she hit the floor at the side of the bed furthest away from the window. When it was all over because of being so scared all she could think about was running. Even though she didn't have an exact plan on what she was doing as she just chucked some stuff into a case and ran. Although just before deciding on her final destination as her head had become clearer. She stopped to send Bull and Cable an E mail, thinking that she hadn't left any clues as to where she was going.

What she didn't know of course was that following the conclusion of the case and before joining the others for a celebration drink Bull had popped back to the office again. He'd gone into her office to see if she was there to invite her to the drink as well. Seeing the report on her desk he'd picked it up and had started to read it when his phone alerted him to an E mail message. After reading her message he sprang into action calling everyone back into the office again.

When they got there he was pleased that Chunk and Cable managed to be the first ones in on their own, so he got them to go into Chunk's room. Just as he was about to join them Marissa walked in, so he told her to keep everyone there while he went to speak to Chunk and Cable. On his way to see them he picked up Cable's laptop to give her. As he got into the room and shut the door he handed her the laptop an said "I came back to see if Tess had come back and was going to ask her to join us, I found her full report and we've got trouble. You will find Cable that she's sent you an E mail, I was reading the report when I got one too. I'm not sure what but something has happened at hers because she said she was coming back to find you and me Chunk to talk about some things. I have a feeling that detective Sprong may have found out where she was and what she was doing, so he's threatened her and she's run. We need to find and protect her. She's probably put it in yours to, but she's given permission for you to hack into her E mails and copy them, all the letters are in her office as well." With that Cable says that she'll get on it leaving Bull and Chunk alone. He then turns to Chunk and says "I promise that we will find her and protect her. But talk to me and give me a clue as to where she may have gone?"

Chunk shrugs and replies "That's the thing though; I just don't have a clue. Because she lived in DC with her father as he was a single father. When she was fifteen he was arrested and sent to prison and she ended up in the care system. After that they never really had a great relationship, but since his release they have been trying to repair things and he now lives in Ohio. When she came back from her last trip though something seemed off so I think that something may have happened between them. Her mom had been half French and English. So I know that even though she was born here in New York she does also hold French and British passports. And you know I think there's more between detective Sprong and her that meets the eye. She's never told me what it is, but I know that she does have a secret. But I do sort of wonder if he's found out what it is, has tried something on and it hasn't been reciprocated by her."

Bull says "What is it?"

Chunk answers "She'll probably kill me for saying this, but I'm prepared for it. Let's just say that I think it might have something to do with her not ever having had a serious relationship. I also know that even though she never said anything to me she was having trouble with hang up calls at work, home and on the mobile. I also suspected that some may have been threatening ones as well. What if it's been him because of working out her secret and he's been trying to use it against her? Because I could tell that since getting away from that place and being here in the last couple of months, she has been so much happier. And dare I say it I think she may have fallen in love with her job again, plus her love of psychology and computer forensics has come back as well."

Bull replies "I believe so too. Because she has changed so much since that first day here." They then get interrupted by Cable urgently knocking on the door; Bull pulls it open and says "What is it?" She moves past him and tells him to shut it quickly; as he does so she says "Tess ran because her place has been shot up, the cops are here now."

Bull asks "Including detective Sprong?"

She answers "Yep including him and from what I've found I would really love to go and punch that smug look on his face off."

Bull raises his eyebrows at her as he then says "Ok Chunk go and tell Marissa to put them into Benny's office. Then get Benny in here so we can have a quick talk before we go in there." Chunk goes off and Bull then adds "What have you got."

Cable says "There's still loads that I've got to get through yet. But yes Sprong has been threatening her and more recently it's started to get a bit more graphic. She also left me her phone, but I haven't got to that yet. And she did say that there is more in voice mails and texts."

Bull asks "Without listening to the voice mails can you prove that it's him?"

She says with a smile "Yes I can thanks to something that she showed me how to do. Plus our detective isn't has clever as he thinks he is with trying to keep himself unknown. Because in what I've found so far some of the E mails have come from his own personal account and other's have come from his registered work terminal."

He then asks "Is there anyway that you could get into her apartments CCTV or the cameras nearby to see if we can get any proof that he was also involved with the shooting?"

She answers "I'll give it a go."

He says "Just stay in here and do it because I don't want anyone near Sprong alone in case he tries to get it out of you what's going on." As Benny and Chunk then come in he adds "Benny I know that Tess is missing, but can you get a restraining order or protective order out on Sprong on her behalf?"

Benny replies "If you can prove that he's out to get her and it is the reason why she has gone missing, then yes you can even in her absence."

Cable then buts in saying "As well as the E mails and the stuff that's on her phone plus this, I think that we will have more than enough."

Bull asks "What is it?"

She says "It's a mixture of the apartment buildings CCTV and the nearest street cameras. On both it's clear to see who it is."

As they watch it Bull says "We've got him." After a pause he adds "Right Cable keep working on everything and getting that evidence together for Benny. I'll tell the others as well. But I don't want any of you to be alone with Sprong unless either me or Benny are with you. I'm going to call the chief and see what he says, then after that we'll go and talk to them. Once that is done me and you Chunk will go to her apartment to check it as well as sort out getting it secure. Especially as I don't trust things with him being on the case and also don't trust that he might have got in and got something or got a clue as to where she may have gone. It will also give us a chance to look and see if we can find something as well."

After what becomes an eventful couple of hours at the office. As after getting the proof they needed and Bull's subsequent call to the chief of the police about both the stalking of Tess by detective Sprong and also her report showing him to be the murderer in the original case. With Bull assuring the chief that he would make sure he got all the evidence for both cases. He told Bull to keep Sprong there talking about her disappearance while he sent officers to come arrest him, which was what they did. After that had been done with Bull and Chunk finally made heir way to her apartment. They also realized with being there that she had literally packed up as soon as it had happened and that no-one had been in there after she'd gone. As Bull was going through some of her paperwork and sitting on the sofa while doing it, Chunk had been checking things out in her study. As he walks out of there with a sigh he says "Why do I feel so guilty about doing this?"

Bull looks up at him and replies "It's because she's our friend and you never really expect to do something like this for a friend."

As Chunk sits down next to him he says "But why do I have a feeling that perhaps you might want there to be more than a friendship between the both of you? Look I know that for a long time now she's been telling me not to do anything to set the two of you up. But I did always think that the two of you would be good together."

Bull answers thoughtfully "Yes I would like there to be more between us, if she wants there to be more as well. In the mornings for a while now we've been having breakfast together, as I knew that she wasn't eating any breakfast. In that time the two of us have been getting to know each other, and yes I think I have slowly been falling in love with her. Before even realizing my feelings for her I had been starting to think about making her a permanent member of the team. As I will admit that there have been times that she's spotted more things than I have spotted with cases. But I also think it may be beneficial to keep the lab on too. Because in some cases that we've had there have been times that I've wished we could check the evidence. Plus of course I think that she and Cable also make a really great team together. I will also promise you now that if we do get together I will never ever hurt you. Not only that you can also be the protective best friend." There's then a silence because Bull notices a letter from her father, he doesn't look at it but does notice the different surname to Tess's and he then says "Where did her surname come from?"

Chunk answers "It sort of gets a bit complicated because when she went into care her father wouldn't give away his full parental rights to her. But her adoptive parents wanted to adopt her and in a way they did, with her also taking their surname. What are you thinking?"

He says "I'm just wondering if she had any of her passports in her mom or dad's name? It also seems that she was off after seeing her dad last because he was arrested again while she was with him."

There's another silence when Chunk all of a sudden says "No it couldn't be surely?"

Peaking Bull's interest he asks "What is it, out with it?"

Chunk answers with a smile "It might be just my brain working overtime with everything that's happened. You don't think that Sprong could have been involved in her dad's original case and ended up doing like his attempt with our client and set him up to cause the friction between them and then did it again somehow this time. Because we know that the threats have been getting worse recently. So he did it to try and make her finally give in to him?"

Bull says "I'll get Marissa and Danny to check on things. Before I ask them has she got anything herself somewhere?"

Chunk replies "There's a file marked dad in the study I'll go and get it." He's then gone a while but when he comes back he's also got some other papers in his hand, which he hands to Bull and says "Here her moms name was Grace Ruefelle and it also appears that she left Tess a house in both the UK and Paris along with a trust fund."

Bull then gets on the phone and tells Cable to get everyone together and put him on speaker phone. When she does it he then explains to everyone about the papers and the box of stuff on her father that they'll be bringing back with them once the repairs have been done. But for now could they start doing some digging on her father's original case and also his current one. If they manage to find anything suspicious or something that can mean they can make an appeal to give it to Benny for him to start working on it. He also gives Cable her mom's surname and asks her to do her thing and find out if Tess did have any passports in that name, as well as checking if any flights at all had been booked in that name. When they hang up he and Chunk keep looking through things and checking to see if they can find anything else that might be useful to them.

 **A/N: Originally I was going to wait for a while before I had an attempt at any Bull stories, but this one got stuck in my head and I thought I'd give it a go! When I first started it we weren't very long into it, so you'll probably notice the changes as we got more episodes into the season. As especially near the beginning of the story I hadn't quite got a handle on it yet! Anyway I hope that you enjoy it and please excuse any mistakes I've done with law issues, just count it as poetic licence! xxx. D.**


	2. Chapter 2

**First Love.**

 **Chapter 2.**

As Tess awoke from a rather erotic dream of her and Bull making love that in the middle of things had changed to her dreaming that he was actually outside her front door knocking on it. She blinked awake and looked at the clock on the nightstand which said it was 3am. She knew that the dream had to be ridiculous because there was no way that Bull would be knocking on her front door at that time of the morning, especially as she had gone and covered her tracks as to where she was so very well. Although in her heart she suspected that if anyone was going to end up finding her, then it would be him. This was also the first time that the dream had to turn into something like that, because ever since the day she had run away her dreams had become particularly erotic every single night. But in a way with having the dream night after night it had made her regret the decision of running away in many ways, and she was wishing that she had remained where she was and had told the man that she was falling in love with the truth about what was really going on. So instead she reached a decision because she had got with her the spare phone which was still on the same number as the one she'd left Cable with. Guessing that even if her dream wasn't true Cable would be able to work out where she was and would be able to send Bull on his way. Not only that she also had a desperate feeling that she just really wanted to hear his voice. So when she pressed the number for his speed dial, she was very surprised to hear a phone start ringing right outside her door. So with that she got out of bed and grabbed her dressing gown off the bedroom door and put it on, before then heading to the front door. As she opened it she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her lips when she found Bull standing there with a big bunch of red, pink and yellow roses in his arms with just as big smile on his own face. As he said "Happy Valentine's day." To her, she grabbed his free hand and pulled him inside. As she shut the door he presented her with the roses which she just put down on the side near her. As she turned back to him again he was crowding her space and as she watched his eyes flick between her own eyes and her lips, she felt the butterflies starting up in her stomach. As he then bent down and took her in a light kiss, the fireworks started to go off inside her and she soon found herself responding to the kiss. As the kiss deepened his hand went onto her hip, as her hand went onto the back of his head pulling themselves even closer to one another. As they eventually broke apart slightly breathless, but kept themselves so that their noses were touching he then whispered "Hi." To her, which she did the same back to him with a bit of shyness to her voice. His hand then left the hip that he'd been lightly gripping and he took her hand in his instead and led them over together to the sofa. As they sat down together with him still keeping hold of her hand she started to say "I'm sorry I ran, I was coming to you when you know happened."

But before she can gabble anything else out, he puts his finger gently on her lips to make her stop and he then says "I know why you ran and I do really understand why, but you did worry us a lot. Especially when the cops turned up at the office and told us what had happened, but I do have a lot to tell you. But all that I will say for now is that you are safe. Sprong is in jail and there's a hope in hells chance of him getting out of there or even get bail."

She asks with some surprise "How?"

He answers "Well one thing is thanks to your report and the evidence for the murder case. Plus with what you left Cable with to go through and with her also managing to get into both the street CCTV camera feed and the one at your apartment, we were also able to prove that he was the one that shot your apartment up. Benny has also been to court on your behalf to get all the protective orders and no contact orders that he can lay his hands on. So on top of the murder charges and all the other charges connected to that. He's also been charged with stalking you as well as intimidation, plus we have a feeling that there will be a lot more to come for him to be facing. Now that is all I am going to be telling you for now, the rest of it can now wait until we get home again in a few days. That's of course if you're going to be coming home again with me?"

She sighs and smiles at him as she answers "Of course I do want to come home with you."

He then says "Ok. Before we talk about anything else, I first of all need to say this. I made this decision before I realized that I was falling in love with you Tessa. But I want you stay and work with us."

She replies "How? Because you don't normally work with any forensics."

He answers "Well because I know your history and know that you've never actually used your own psychology degree or the computer forensics. But in the cases that you came and helped us with when you were waiting for results or whatever. I could see it in you and you were becoming more and more passionate about what you were doing. Not only that at times you've seen more in some people than what I have. Not only that in this time you and Cable have also become the best of friends, but the two of you also work so well together. But there have also been cases that we've had where I've ended up wishing that we could have had access to the evidence to double check on it, because they've then ended up being thrown out of court because the evidence had been wrong and it shouldn't have even ended up being taken to court. If you want to you can even go back to uni or something if you do want to update any of your skills. Whatever you want to do I will support you. You can do whatever it is you want to do, but whatever it is I want to be there by your side."

Before he can say anything else she gets her own back and places her finger gently onto his lips to stop him from continuing to talk, when she lets go, she cups his cheek and goes in for another light kiss. As they break apart this time she has a small shy smile on her lips and she says "Yes I will do it because I want to stay with you and stay right by your side too."

He smiles back at her and says "You sure?"

She replies with certainty "I'm very sure."

As they start to kiss again, he ends up pushing her gently onto her back and for the first time in her life she finds that she's not feeling afraid about what is going to happen between the two of them, because things for once just feel so right, because she is so very much in love with him and can trust him not to hurt her in any way. Even as she feels him undo the tie on her dressing gown and his hands begin to find their way underneath her night dress. Not only that her body takes her by surprise slightly at the way it responds to his touch and the way that he leaves a trail of goose bumps on her flesh where his hands and fingers have touched. As he then breaks the kiss and his hand moves to gently caress her breast, he whispers huskily into her ear as her eyes flutter shut revelling in his touch "I know what you've been hiding. If you need to stop at any time, you only have to say the word."

She opens her eyes again to look directly into those gorgeous green eyes of his that she has grown to love, she clears her throat and says "I love and trust you Doctor Jason Bull."

As she cups his cheek he whispers back "I love you so much Tessa and I promise you that I will never ever hurt you."

As she lets go of his cheek he starts nuzzling her neck and as his hands once again start the exploration of her body, her eyes flutter shut once again and she knows that she does feel both happy and safe in his hands. As things progress and she starts to relax under his touch as well as beginning to respond to it, he eventually breaks off what he's doing to stand up and he then scoops her up into his arms, as he starts to carry her towards the bedroom she says in warning "Be careful of the step into the bedroom and also watch your head on the doorframe." Seeing as she knows that he's tall enough to end up banging his head on it. When he gets successfully into the bedroom without tripping up or banging his head, he lays her gently on the bed where they continue with some serious making out. Then all of a sudden she finds her courage from somewhere and says as she breaks a kiss "I think that someone may be a little overdressed." As she goes in for another kiss she slips his jacket off his arms, which after getting it off he chucks it over the side of the bed. Before she then repeats the action with his cardigan and then slowly starts undoing the buttons on his shirt. This time as she strips him out of the shirt she pushes back gently onto the bed and as she straddles his legs, she leans over to start nuzzling his neck and exploring his body. As she's doing his hands once again find their way underneath her night dress and with the feel of the little caresses he makes to her and touches, she finds helps her with her own confidence, especially as she is really loving the feel of his gorgeous hairy chest under her fingertips and lips. Eventually he pulls her down on top of him so that he can her dressing gown off that he hadn't got rid of off her before. After slipping it off her he gently turns them so that he's on top again, then as he straddles her with just his eyes he encourages her to start stripping off his trousers. Taking her time over undoing the belt and pulling it through the loops and chucking it away, before then moving to undoing the button and zipper. The whole time she's doing it she loves the feel of his watching her and the way the two of them are communicating with their eyes only, especially as she can see his reassurance every step of the way, as well ass the making sure that she is truly ok with where things are heading. After pulling the trousers down as far as she could, he got up and stood at the side of the bed to strip them off, but made sure that the boxers remained on. Then as he joined her again he got her to sit up so he could strip the night dress from her. Even though she also knew he was doing it to help her relax more, as they begun just making out again, she was finding that she was really loving the feel of his chest hair rubbing against her, as well as the difference between the feeling of his stubble rubbing against her skin as he caressed her body with his mouth and the softness of her fingertips and hands as he did it with them. As them moment to them making love finally came, she was glad that he'd helped her to relax and enjoy it. But most of all she was so very happy that she had waited for the right man to come along. Afterwards as he pulled her into him she put her head up for them just to do a light kiss, before she put her head back down onto his chest and soon fell asleep happy and contented in his arms.

Later on that morning when Tess awoke, she was feeling a bit achy, but was feeling very happy and contented. And also very happy that for the very first time in her life she had been given the best ever Valentine's Day present. As her stomach rumbled with hunger she carefully removed herself from Bulls arms, but couldn't help but smile at the happy and contented look he had on his face, even in his sleep. She then started to get them some breakfast together as well as put her roses into some vases and couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face as she did it. As she then went back to cooking the bacon and eggs for them a smile appeared on her face once again as all of a sudden Bull's very familiar scent hit her nostrils, before he then wrapped his arms around her from behind and he nuzzled at her neck, as he whispered "Good morning beautiful in her ear." She turned in his arms and it took her breath away to find him in nothing but his boxers and with his hair all mussed up, as he took her in a kiss and they broke apart she said "Good morning gorgeous." Before turning back round in his arms to deal with the cooking eggs and bacon. He then whispered in her ear "I missed you not being there with me when I woke up to find you gone."

She turned her head slightly so that she could look at him and replied "I really loved waking up in your arms and really would've loved to have stayed there. But as my stomach decided that I was hungry I thought that I would get up and get us some breakfast. Seeing as I thought that it might make up for me not having a Valentines gift for you, us having this in bed together. Especially as you gave me the best gift in the world."

He nuzzles her neck again as he says "You don't really have to give me anything you know because you've already done enough in allowing me to fall in love with you, and you know that this day still hasn't ended yet. Especially as there are also a couple of people back at the hotel who really want to see you because they were also really worried about you."

She smiles and replies "I bet that's Chunk and Cable? And I'm also guessing that that is how you probably found me?"

He answers "Well Chunk did tell me about the houses and your passports, but you had managed to hide things so well that we did sort of end up hitting a brick wall. I then sent them home with assurances that I was going to head home as well."

She buts in and says "But you didn't and ended up staying on at the office?"

He answers "I did, I was just re-going over some of the stuff that they'd dug up during the day. Something just seemed to click as I was going over the list for the flight that you were on. I then started going over the CCTV that Cable had dug up during the day as well and worked it out. Of course I called to tell them what I'd found and said I was coming to find you, but they then persuaded me to let them come as well. But then as we made our way here I then regretted that choice, because of the way that for most of the way here Chunk was giving me advice as to how I should romance you."

She says with some slight surprise "He knows?"

He answers "He does. But only because he'd managed to work me out that I'd got feelings for you and he'd also seen it in you too. I had already worked it out though as to what I wanted to do and how to tell you when I got here. So I ended up taking them to the hotel because I didn't want the two of them intruding us. After that I came straight here and I think that my plan did work out oh so well. Although I will have to go down and get my bag from the car later on."

She then plates their breakfast up and then turns in his arms to face him again, as she also gives his body a very hungry look up and down she says "Before you do go out there and get it though, I think that you may have to at least get something on you and more than you have on now, even if you do look very gorgeous being semi-naked. But I don't think somehow that the neighbours will appreciate seeing you like that as much as I am. Anyway I'm thinking that before you go out there and get your bag, we should perhaps take this food back to bed again?"

He gives her a gentle kiss and says "That sounds like a very good invite!" When they then break apart from a slightly more hungry kiss, he picks the plates up and then adds with a chuckle "Come on lets go!" As they then once again head for the bedroom.

Later on when the two of them have finally managed to get out of bed! Bull takes Tess back to the hotel to see Chunk and Cable, in which he also tells them the good news about her taking the job. Then after that he says that as he'd got a special surprise for her that night and he knows that she doesn't have anything special to wear there he really hopes that she and Chunk will go out so that they can get her something. He then tells them that she also knows that Sprong has been arrested and also about the orders that Benny has sorted out for her, other than that she's not to know anything else because he'll be telling her once they get home about the rest of it.

By the time she and Chunk get back to the hotel later on she finds that she is absolutely warn out. But all in all she did really enjoy the shopping trip out with Chunk, especially as she'd never been out doing clothes shopping with anyone before, but she did really love having Chunk there to give her another point of view with things. Especially as he also had her trying on dresses and things that she never thought she would actually try on in a million years. But with having his extra perspective it helped her to see that they did actually suit her. Of course with the two best friends shopping together as well they talked and she explained to him how scared she was when Sprong shot her apartment up. As not only was she scared about being hit by a bullet she was also scared about getting hit by the glass that was also flying around as well. Chunk also says that when the cops came to the office to tell them about what had happened they were all really worried about her. Especially as they also ended having barely any time to think about things with Sprong being one of those cops, and then Bull getting onto the police chief, as that was when the plan was then made to arrest Sprong while he was there at the office. Especially as that way they were saving it from being taken out on the street or of course before Sprong then had a chance of also disappearing to try and find her on his own. After that had happened he and Bull then finally had the chance of getting to her apartment themselves. It had scared him himself when they saw the sight that greeted them at the apartment, not only that he could also see that Bull was really shaken by the sight as well. Even though he wasn't allowed to talk about anything else, he would say that she might be happy to know that rather than just getting her place boarded up they had got it repaired for her.

When they stopped for something to eat and to have a coffee, after a few minutes silence Chunk said "So I'm guessing that you and Bull have sealed the deal?"

As she answered she flushed slightly "Chunk I know that we're best friends, but I have a feeling that you don't really want to hear about your boss's sex life."

He said with a smile "No, but I do want to hear about yours, even if you are with the boss. It was also your first time and I do care about you very much."

She sighs and says with a big smile erupting on her face "Ok. All I will say is that yes something has happened, it was perfect and I'm very happy that I waited all these years for the right man to come along, and yes I love him very much."

He replies "That's good because when the two of you go out to dinner tonight me and Cable are going to make sure that you look absolutely stunning for him. Just promise me though that after tonight the both of you won't put in another appearance at the hotel until we're all headed for home again."

She says "I promise we won't put in any more appearances until then. Especially as why do you think we were so late in getting there this morning?"

He replies with a grin "Oooh, so the two of you have done it more than once then?"

Once again she flushes and smiles as she says "And for that I'm pleading the fifth."

He then says "Ok, ok. I'm just glad the two of you are happy and are in love. Does it mean though that because I know you oh so well, that other than getting what we are today, we'll be heading out for another trip like this, as I'm guessing that your wardrobe isn't very full of dating clothes?"

She answers "Yes you do know me so very well and no I haven't got any dating clothes in my wardrobe, so I think that we will probably be making a trip out to get more. Especially as you have really helped me today with the choices to make and what I can wear. Yes I do love Bull very much, but I just don't know what I'm comfortable wearing for him or even what he likes. It's just so hard with this side of things because I am just so in the dark, even if I am happy about having waited for the right person to come along for me."

He then takes her hand as he says "Don't worry about it; I will always be here to help you. And I also know that Cable and the others will also always be here for you too and will help you any time you need it."

She squeezes his hand and replies "I know you will be and thank you." After that once they finish their food and coffee they head off to do more shopping once again.

With being so exhausted by the time she and Chunk get back to the hotel again, Cable tells her to go and have a rest in her bed. It also makes her laugh with the way the two of them are also making sure that she and Bull stay apart from each other like it's their wedding day or something. After having that thought though she quietly hopes that it might be an omen her thinking like that for their future. Yes she knows that if it did happen that she would be the second Mrs Jason Bull. And she didn't know as yet the reasons behind why they divorced, but she did know that Bull would tell her when he was ready to. Of course that then also set her thoughts off on the new job and the possibility of her going back to university again to update her skills, but she also knew that if she did that she would also be going for her doctorate, and somehow it felt good to her knowing that there would be two doctors working side by side.

As the two of them got her ready for her date she was well and truly pampered, because when she woke up Chunk had poured her an exquisite bath, leaving her alone to have a really good soak in it. Then after she finally gets out and they help her to get ready for the date, she finds it is slightly alien to her with actually getting herself ready for a date. But she is glad that she does have Chunk and Cable there helping her to get ready, because of them keeping her entertained and keeping her mind off of getting ready for the date. Although she did end up play hitting Chunk when as he did her hair he started to pretend that they were really at the hairdressers and he was her hair stylist asking her the same kind of things that any normal hair stylist would.

By the time she is finally ready she does have a bit of a laugh when she sees the look on their faces, as it looks like their eyes are going to pop out of their heads, although she does end up having a bit of a moan when Chunk insists that he's got to have a photo of her. But also because she and Bull haven't had a talk yet about what they're going to tell everyone about them and their relationship, she does finally agree to the photo, but says that if she finds out that he sent it back to the others in New York then he would be in trouble for it. Guessing that with putting the ban on him doing it that Cable might have an attempt instead, she then turns round and says it to her as well. Just before they finally take her to where she's supposed to be meeting Bull, Chunk gives a careful hug so not to spoil anything and gives her a kiss on the cheek as he says "You do look absolutely stunning and I know that I would date you if I ever had that inclination to do it for that matter."

When they finally get down to the bar where Bull is meeting her, they stop and give her one more careful hug, which she finds she is quite glad of because she's starting to find that the nerves are starting to hit her. What she also finds helps her is that just before she walks through the door Chunk says with a smile "Go on knock him dead!" Which also makes her smile back at him, and that smile then remains on her face as she then finally makes her way through the door into the bar. Just as she's walking through the door Bull is already there at the bar having a drink. As he turns slowly when she opens the door in time for him to see her, his eyes do like Cable and Chunks did in nearly popping out of his head because she does look so stunning. When she sees him turn as she walks in the door, Tess finds that her nerves soon start to disappear as she sees him. Especially as he has got all suited up and there is also no cardigan in sight! As soon as she then gets into touching distance away from him, he gets off of the bar stool he's sitting on, takes her hand to pull her close to him, as he then kisses her on the cheek and whispers in her ear "You look absolutely stunning." As he then goes to pull away, she pulls him close instead and kisses him on the cheek before saying "You look just as stunning too." After that he then helps her onto the bar stool that he vacated and he gets onto the one that's next to her. They then have a drink together before he helps her off the bar stool and they leave to go onto the next place that they're going too.

That night the two of them have for their very first Valentines Day together is a very special one. For their meal they go to a very tiny French restaurant that is out of the way in a back street, where they have a very nice three course meal, which they mostly eat while holding hands. Just before their pudding is served to them she says that even though he did say that she didn't have to get him anything present wise, she did really want to give him something. So she hands him the small gold plaque which she had 'To the most special man in my life, thank you for making my life so very happy in sharing firsts.' Engraved on it, as somehow it had felt right to her in getting it. He then gave her hand a light squeeze, before he then leant across the table to give her cheek a kiss. The moment was just so perfect and it really felt like nothing else was needed.

After their meal was over they then went for a walk round Paris arm in arm before going back to the hotel again to get the car and go back to her apartment. As soon as they got inside he took her in a long slow kiss, which soon found them both wrapping arms round each other to get their bodies as close together as they possibly could to one another. When they finally broke apart he whispered against her lips "I love you Tessa." As she bought her hand up to the back of his head she whispered against his lips back "I love you too Doctor Jason Bull." She then took him in another kiss and when that one broke he made her giggle as he took her hand and said "Coffee or bed?" And with her free hand she pushed him lightly in the small of his back in the direction of the bedroom and with that he said "Bed it is!" Although just as they got into the doorway of her bedroom he then let go of her hand and pushed a strand of her hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear before bending to whisper "Stay there." As her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room it wasn't long before she realized that he was going around the room lighting the candles that he had obviously prepared earlier on. When he came back to her again, he pulled her once again into a kiss and with this kiss; she felt his hands exploring her back and ass. As she began to melt into him, he took one hand away from her ass leaving one there to start slowly undoing the zipper on the back of the dress slowly, grinning into the kiss as he ran his knuckles against her spine as he undid it and as he gave her lower lip a tug with his teeth gently causing her moan and shiver. As she managed to ring her hands round, she slipped his jacket from him before then starting on the buttons of his shirt. As she then slipped that off he started moving them both slowly towards the bed, as they got closer to it he let the dress slip from her body to pool at her feet. As the back of her legs hit the bed she ended up over balancing and went tumbling down onto the bed, pulling him down with her on top of her. Because of the "Oomph!" That slipped from her lips as they hit the bed, he pushed himself up on his hands and searched her face to make sure that she was ok. Because of her nod and the way that she then pulled him back down again, he heads in the direction of her neck to nuzzling it. As she starts to run her fingers through his hair and the nips and grazes on her neck start to get a bit harder, in her head she knows that they're probably going to mark her, but for once in her life she doesn't care about it and knows she'll be proud to wear them. Because of everything being so new to her she finds that she is starting to love the way her body reacts to every action. It's also that night that she learns she really loves it as he nips and kisses her stomach while his hands caress the side of her body, which she also finds surprising because of the way she was so ticklish, so whenever someone would touch her sides she would automatically tense up. This time she didn't tense up and loved the feeling of goose bumps that popped up as he did it. She also loved when she also got the upper hand on him and was able to turn them so that she was on top. Her own surprise came though when she was able to undo his trousers and found that he wasn't wearing anything under them. Although with the mixture of her surprise and helping her to strip them from his body, he got his own back again for her move and turned them so he was on top again. As they went onto make love, once again she was happy that he'd distracted her with a kiss so that she wouldn't over think things, but she knew that in time that wouldn't happen anymore to her and she'd stop doing it. Especially as she also ended up wrapping her legs around him which pushed him deeper and helped him to hit that special sweet spot inside her. As they then fell into their post orgasm haze they shared some lazy kisses, before finally falling asleep in each other's arms.

For the next couple of days or so they do as she promised Chunk they would and stay away from the hotel. What she really loves the most about those couple of days or so is just she and Bull spending the time together, whether it's just the two of them staying in her apartment cuddling up together while reading or watching TV and movies, cooking together and of course making love, but she also loves it when they do go out and have an explore of Paris.

During the final afternoon that they have in Paris the nerves start to hit her about them returning back to New York the next day. It hasn't got anything to do with returning home, her new job or of course her continuing relationship with Bull. It was mostly down to the prospect of having to possibly facing Sprong in court, as well as the possibility of him attempting to get round the orders that they had put in place and that he would try to contact her. The thing she was worrying about the most though was the thought of returning back to her apartment again, as even though she had loved the place from the moment she first viewed it, she had her doubts that she could go back into it after what had happened to her in it, even with Bull and Chunk having got the repairs sorted out and done for her. Not only that as her anxiousness built about it, she started to get a fear about the possibility of Sprong managing to get out of prison and coming to get her, especially with her apartment being on the bottom floor. Because of her turning quiet on him and the way that she'd just been picking at her food during lunch, Bull didn't push it and left her to her thoughts as he knew that he would tell him what was going through her head in the end. So after doing the clearing up after their lunch and finding her lying on the sofa, he joins her and she lays her head on his chest, then after a little while of silence she starts to fiddle with the buttons on his cardigan and the top ones on his shirt. In the end she lets out a big sigh and says "I'm scared Jason."

He kisses the top of her head and begins to stroke her shoulder as he asks "What about?"

She answers "That Sprong will somehow manage to escape from prison and will come and get me, or that he may end up hiring someone to do it instead, and it would be so easy for them to get me in my apartment with it being on the bottom floor, he would find a way in whatever security things we have in place, he'll still get round them. I know that you and Chunk got the repairs done on it for me, but I even feel scared about going in there with what happened to it. Don't get me wrong I do want to come home because I do really love you and want us and the new job."

As he cuddles her more into him he replies "I promise you that you will be safe and that I will always keep you safe. I love you very much and won't let anything happen to you. If you really don't feel safe in your apartment then you can come and live with me, you can then think about what to do with yours and if we put it on the market, then perhaps we could start thinking about getting a house or apartment together. Then if he does attempt to do anything by any chance we will bring down whatever we need to down on him for doing it, I promise you. You were so very right not to trust him all along and I'm very glad that you turned to Chunk about it all, because it helped us to meet and has bought us together and we will get through all of this together, I promise you."

He then gets up from the sofa and holds his hand out to take hers and pulls her up, he then takes her to the bedroom, undresses her and slips her nightdress on her, before pulling the bed covers down and getting her to get into it. After that he goes round drawing all the curtains and blinds to make the room as dark as he possibly can, before he then strips down to his boxers, joins her in bed and pulls her into him, as they then get cuddled up together he kisses the top of her head and says quietly to her "I promise you that I will keep you protected, now sleep as I know that you didn't sleep very well last night." Which indeed had been the truth, even if she had done her best to try and hide it from him, he just knew that she had been there laying awake. Because yes she had managed to fall asleep happy and contented after they had made love, but a couple of hours later she was awake again and had gone to the bathroom. Bull hadn't been certain but he had a feeling that it had probably been a nightmare that had woken her. After that it seemed that she would then only sleep for a short time before she'd be awake again and it then continued in that vain for the rest of the night. Eventually as they lay together in that moment and with him lightly stroking her shoulder with his thumb did she finally fall asleep. He then soon followed her into sleep himself as her breathing began to even out and he followed her breathing pattern.

When Tess awoke a couple of hours later she was alone in bed, but there was the most amazing aroma of cooking drifting into her, so she got up and just slipped her dressing gown on. As she then went to find Bull in the kitchen and he was just putting some potatoes into the oven. As he stood up from bending doing it she came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, as she then said "A man of many talents!"

As he turned in her arms and then gave her a kiss he replied "Well I do try to do my best and you look so much better from having that sleep."

She says with a smile "Thank you, I do feel so much better from it."

He then kisses her on the forehead and says "Just promise me that you won't keep just bottling everything up inside you and that you will come to me whenever you're worrying about anything."

She replies "I promise that I'll try not to worry about things and will come to you, which is why I want to talk about something, but I also wanted to ask you if you would come with me tomorrow to go to mom's grave before we have to leave for home."

He kisses her forehead again and says "Of course I will come with you."

After that he unwraps them from each other, takes her hand in his and they go to sit on the sofa together, as they get cuddled up he asks "So what is it?"

She then replies with her own question "When you were looking through my stuff as you were trying to find me did you look through the stuff that I've got on my dad?"

He answers "All I looked through was to see if there was the chance that you could have a passport in your mom's surname and what it was, that was it."

She then says "Ok, when we get home I will give you the whole file so that you can look at it. But along with still being a bit scared about Sprong in some ways I do also wonder if I'm just being paranoid about him. But because of how young I was when she passed away my dad always told me that she had died from cancer. Not only that an order was also passed that it was also what my adoptive parents had to tell me as well, anyway on the first police force I worked with I found out the truth which was that she had been murdered, and you can probably already guess who it was that told me the truth or rather made sure that the file was on my desk one morning? I also managed to find out that at one point dad had been one of the main suspects of the murder that was until his alibi had been checked out. Because he was a teacher of martial arts and at the time had been teaching a class that I was also in. Well I've been doing some thinking because the main reason for them thinking he was their main suspect was because some good evidence to it being him had been planted on him. With what has been happening recently, is there a chance that Sprong could have planted the evidence on him and killed my mom, then he's had this growing obsession about me because I somehow remind him so much of the woman he killed and then getting dad set up possibly for what he's been in prison for to get him out of the ways so that I'm then left unprotected and he can then kill me too? Because it just seems so strange that each time I moved forces to get away from him I'd just get settled down, feeling really happy in my life finally and he would then mysteriously appear again because he had then got a new job within that police department. I know that I'm probably just being stupid about this, but it does just make me wonder about it all."

He replies "Look we know from our experiences of reading people how scary it can get to know them inside out and I know what you're thinking, but there is a chance that it could be that. The thing is I don't know how much you are like your mom because I've not seen any pictures of her."

She uncurls herself from him and gets up to go over to a drawer where she pulls out a framed photo of she and her mom together, as she then comes back to him again she hands him the photo as she sits down and cuddles into him again as she then says "I think because of having that thought about Sprong being behind everything I've never wanted to feed into his obsession just in case, so I've always kept pictures of mom hidden away, but this is one of my favourites of the two of us together. Not only that because of being told about the cancer and dad had so many problems getting the permission he needed to bury her over here as per her wishes, I always thought it was because of that, but then after finding out she'd been murdered I knew that the reason he had so many problems was because of that. I know that our relationship then started breaking down when I really loved being with June and Don when they adopted me, but dad wouldn't then sign over his parental rights to them completely, then of course he went to prison and things became even more harder between us. But when I found out about mom being murder I did really try hard to go and talk to him about it, but he just wouldn't talk to me about it. I suppose some of it is because I was very much a mommy's girl, as I loved it so much when it was just the two of us alone, especially when we came here or were in the UK, but it was mostly here in Paris that I loved it the most. As we would spend so much time going round the galleries and shopping together, and I'm sure that is why I have my passion for art. Because when we were here she would sit out on the balcony and would sketch for hours, like I would do, even if I haven't done it for quite some time now. But my favourite moments would be us sitting out there on cold nights under a blanket having a hot chocolate together. Don't get me wrong I do really love the life that I've had with June and Don, but I do think that things got worse with dad as Sprong started to worm his way into my life. Especially as even though I knew that dad was there at the time of the murder teaching my class, Sprong seemed to bring some doubts into my head and there were times when I have started thinking that dad may have even possibly hired someone to do the murder instead. Then on top of all that we have his being in and out of prison anyway and having the possibility of him heading back there once again now, so I have to wonder if the two of us will ever be able to repair our relationship?"

He answers "I can't really answer that as it will be up to the both of you to start that process, but in what you have said you have actually managed to cover some of what we need to talk about when we get back home. But when we do get home and you give me the folder so I can look through everything, if I do find that there's enough to get the investigation open again will you let that happen so that then the both of you can get some peace of mind about things?"

She says "I will do as I would really like that, as even though I know that Sprong is safely locked away and if there's a chance that he did do it, I'll at least know that he will be locked away forever and it will make me feel somewhat safer."

He says "And I do want you to feel safe, as I will protect you from what I can no matter what, because I love you and I will always be here for you."

They then kiss and break apart before he adds "Come on let's go and see if this food is good enough to eat or not."

She then giggles and gets up from the sofa, she then holds out her hand, which he takes and she pulls him up and they head together into the kitchen.

The next morning of course ends up being the perfect day for going to the cemetery, because it is a very wet, dark and chilly day, but she is very pleased that Bull is with her. Not only that it is also the first time that she has ever taken anyone with her to her moms grave and she is also very touched at the way that he has also bought a bunch of flowers to place there along with her own bunch. After having their private moment there and doing the laying of the flowers, as the two of them walk away he pulls her in close to him under the umbrella and she all of a sudden feels a lightness come over her as though some of her worries have been taken away from her, and she all of a sudden says to him with a slight smile "You know that I think my mom would have really liked you Dr Jason Bull."

He then looks down at her with a smile on his own lips as he replies "I hope that she would have done, because I love her daughter very much." The two of them then stop in their tracks and share a kiss and with this kiss she realizes that she knows that he is the man that she does want to spend the rest of her life with.


	3. Chapter 3

**First Love**

 **Chapter 3.**

As they all returned to New York even if Tess had really been looking forward to going home again, she did still have some nerves about things and would she ever be free of her stalker? When they went back to her apartment they soon also realised that she wasn't ever going to get back there again because of what had happened there. As promised Bull was with her along with Chunk as well, but on the doorstep she was too overwhelmed with everything and ended up having a panic attack, which of course Bull had to help her through with, while Chunk took the keys from her and went inside to get a drink of water for her. After that with them at her side she did manage to get in there to grab some clothes and other things she'd need, because Bull told her that she would be coming back to his because he didn't want her to be alone, as well as getting all the paperwork that she had also told Bull about. When they left the place Bull promised that he and the team would get the apartment sorted out for her and her things into storage for the time being so that she could then get it on the market if that was what she wanted done with it. Then that night back at Bull's apartment because of the way that the panic attack had wiped her out so much the two of them just had a quiet night together.

The next day as she and Bull went into TAC for the first time since her disappearance she was quite surprised with the welcome that they all gave her, along with the promises of help as and when she needed it. Not only that before they went to her office so that they could be in private Bull also said in front of everyone that the golden rule with Tess from now on was that unless she was in court with him or Benny, then she wasn't to be alone when she went out one of the others had to be with her at all times. After that the two of them then headed into her office and as they then sat together holding hands he said "With you only just giving me the paperwork I've not gone through that yet and I promise you that I will do that, but the major thing that happened after you went missing was that we did start to go through everything over your dad's conviction, as well as the latest thing to have happened. Because that latest charge has already been thrown out with the way that most of the cases now that Sprong was involved with are going to be looked into. But I called in a few favours because I know how important it is going to be for you both to have the chance to repair your relationship, because there could otherwise be a chance that it will be a very long time before anything gets looked into. So the reason the latest charge has been thrown out is because even though the crime happened in DC where he was living, it also appears that at the time Sprong had also taken some leave. The forensics have been looked at and we haven't got anything as yet to prove that he was somehow involved, but they do prove that your father wasn't involved in it in any way at all, not only that you should also be thankful that your dad had also decided to live in a place for ex-criminals and so it had got CCTV cameras all over the building, so even if the rest of the evidence can't be proved over Sprong's involvement, what we can prove is that he was following your dad and that he did actually plant the evidence that got found on your dad, as the cameras picked it all up. Things are also now being checked back in Ohio over his original conviction and I have been promised that they will keep us updated in how things are going out there. The only thing I'm not going to be sure over is how long everything is going to take over getting that conviction quashed if it is proved that yet again Sprong set him up because every single conviction and case that he's been involved with is going to be looked into carefully and there could end up being quite a few convictions that will have to be quashed now and I'm not honestly sure what the process for all of that will now be, but I do promise you that when it does happen I will do all I can to help him."

She replies "So where is dad now?"

Bull answers "We've now moved him back here to New York and at the moment we have got him in protective custody for his safety, just in case Sprong decides to try and make a move on him or even if he perhaps tries to use a contact of his to do something, which is also why you may find that we are being followed at times because we've been given protection as well, which is also why I don't want you to be alone if you go anywhere, I know that it's probably going to get really hard, but I would much rather we take extra precautions and be as safe as possible. I also know that the two of you have got a very long way to go in repairing your relationship, but we did also have to tell him when you went missing and he was very worried about you. So he's now here in the office so that the two of you can begin on that process. Not only that I also promise you that I will help as much as I can with this process between the two of you, but if you do feel that the two of you do need some extra help with everything, then I will do my best to help you find someone to help you with that as well.

She squeezes his hand and says "We may end up needing something extra, but I think I'd like to see how things go with us first, and well as he is here now I think it would be a good place to start."

So with that the two of them then hug and kiss, before he then goes off to get her dad. After leaving them hugging each other in tears he leaves the two of them to their privacy and picks up the files that she had given him to start going through everything.

While she and her father are having their reunion and talking Bull starts to go through everything that she had given him, the more that he gets into it all the more he starts to get the feeling that Tess was right about her mom having been murdered, the only thing that really concerns him though is how much her father did actually know about things and how much it could end up effecting their reunion, especially as he discovers that her father got the second autopsy done as well. Even though Bull doesn't really understand everything that is said in both of them, he can understand enough to know that there are glaring differences between the both of them. As he goes through things he ends up calling the detective that had been in charge of the case at the time and as they talk his hackles automatically go up as soon as the detective mentions that Sprong was involved in the case and investigation, he knows that it may take time to get anything done about it but he gets the detective to send him copies of the investigation and he is very determined that if it was Sprong that did murder her mom, then he will get both she and her dad the justice for it, even after all of these years later. Not only that in a way he also wants to bring himself some peace, because after seeing how much like her mom she is like, with Sprong still out there on the streets he is very worried about the safety of the woman he loves very much and doesn't want any harm coming to her. After that he then gets Danny to check with her contacts to find out what she can about thins as well as getting Cable as much as she can onto the electronic trail of everything, he also tells everyone that even though working on the case is a high priority they also know that it is probably going to take them time to be able to get through it all, so because of that it will also mean that everything will be business as usual.

After Tess's dad has left them, as she and Bull eat lunch together in her office and then just picks at it staying quiet and not really eating, as they all get back to work again he tells everyone to leave her alone unless she does come to them to talk, if she doesn't then he will try talking to her later on. Later on as he can't find her and everyone else has started packing up and getting ready to head for home, when Bull asks Chunk if he has seen her, he tells Bull that the last time he saw her, she was sitting in one of the tent chairs. When he goes and looks in one of them, he can't help but smile at her, because with her being so short in stature, she had laid down inside it, curled up into a ball and had fallen asleep like that, although as her laptop was also by her side he'd guessed that she had been on that as well. So with that he got that out and shut it down for her, before he then knelt on the floor to poke his head just inside the tent, as he awoke her gently by stroking her face.

As she then woke up, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, but remained lying there, as she cleared her throat and said quietly "Hey." As she then sat up and he helped her out, he went and made her a coffee and when he came back again they then curled up together on the sofa in Chunk's room, as he kissed the top of her head he said "Are you ok?"

She replied "I'm ok and I know that things with me and dad are going to take some time, but just from that little talk we had we are now in a much better place already. He did also apologise for not telling me the truth about mom all those years ago, he admitted that he did it because he thought that I was already hurting enough over her death on top of everything then starting to get strained between us, but he has said that he will help us as much as he possibly can with things. Not only that he did also tell me that he had a feeling that there could be a possibility that Sprong could be bisexual or gay."

He asks "How do you mean?"

She answers "It seems that I think it could something along the lines of emotional transference. Because apparently Sprong attended one of dad's adult martial arts classes. In the end he had to ask him to leave it because of the way he would leave notes and would also flirt with him, as well as also leave presents for him as well. After having him leave the class he then had to get a restraining order out on him because he then begun to also leave presents and things for him both at the place where he took the classes and also at home, as well as that the silent calls then began. Once he'd been given the restraining order, Sprong then disappeared once again. But then after that he reappeared again a few months later at one of my mom's adult art classes, his obsession then started up with her and the whole cycle of things began again, and now of course it's begun yet again on me."

He then asks "Did he say anything to you about any of that stuff being kept?"

She answers "He did say that the stuff did get kept together in a box that went to my grandparents, as in my mom's mom and dad. Because of what happened with me we all ended up loosing touch though. Of course back then as well the both of them lived in the UK and I haven't got a clue where they would be now, or even if they would still have that box considering the associations that it had with dad."

He replies "Ok I'll get Benny onto it tomorrow seeing as we're attempting to trace people it might be better that it comes from a lawyer, but now I think that it's time we went home because today has been a bit of a long day."

She says "That it has been, but before we do go home I do just want to say this."

He asks "And what's that?"

She answers "Well before I went and fell asleep I was looking into what we've been talking about in me possibly going back to university, especially with dad telling me how proud he was of me and that he knew mom would be as well. He then told me that when I was little he and mom set up a trust fund for me and for my education later on, apparently he also kept putting money in it after mom had passed away; he even continued to put money into it when he went inside, no matter how small the amount was. Anyway he said that in the last few years he hasn't checked it to find out how much is in it now, but he is going to sign it over to me so that I can have it and he did ask Benny to get the paperwork sorted out for doing that while he was here. So when it's done and I can use it I'd like to go back to university again."

He asks "Ok, so what would you like to do there?"

She answers with a slight smile "Well as long as you feel that you could cope with me being a doctor as well, I think that I would to do my doctorate in criminal psychology."

As he then pulls her into him more and strokes her hair he says "Wow! I would love to work side by side with you as a doctor too. Not only that I would be very proud to work with you as a partner both in and out of work and with us both also holding different doctorates I think it will be a very useful thing to have here. I know that you may probably have to wait a while before you're able to start it and hopefully by then all of this Sprong stuff will all be over with. But if it isn't over and done with by then, then I promise you that we still find a way to keep you protected while you're doing it, and we'll also make sure that we can work round things so that you can also still come in and do some work as well."

She says "I know that you will help me do this, and that is why I really love you Dr Bull."

She then scoots up and gently kisses him on the cheek, as she then yawns, he then gives her a nudge forward and says "Right that's it we're going home because we've had a long day and you need some rest." He then gets up from the sofa and takes her hand pulling her up, before they then kiss and get themselves together and leave.

As Tess comes out of the bathroom in her dressing gown and a towel wrapped round her head, she heads straight to the kitchen because of the gorgeous smells coming from that direction, as she gets there she finds that Bull is just putting something into the oven, as he comes back up from bending to do it, she wraps he arms round him from behind and says "Thank you for doing the bath for me."

He then turns in her arms, he then smells and nuzzles her neck as he replies "And you smell gorgeous." After he then initiates a kiss, when they break apart, he takes her hand and then leads her to the bedroom. When they get in there he first of all gets her to sit down at the chair in front of the dressing table, he then unwraps the towel from around her hair, before he then rubs her hair gently with it. When he stops doing that, he then picks up her hair brush and plugs in the hair dryer he then says "Now I know that I may not be as good as Chunk is with doing this, but I will give it a good go." Before he then proceeds to dry and do her hair. Not only does she find that she really loves him doing her hair, but by the time that he's done she finds that he has actually managed to do a really good job of it.

When he's finally done with it, he then takes her hair and lays it over her shoulder and starts to then graze on one of her favourite spots on the back of her neck, as he then starts to up the anti slightly with what he's doing by biting just slightly harder she sighs and groans before finally saying "Jason do we have time for this with our food cooking?"

He then stops for a second as he then says huskily in answer to her ear "Yes we do have time as I made sure that we did."

As he then goes back to grazing on her neck again, she then feels his hands wander down to undo the tie on her dressing gown, as he then slips it off from her, he then bends and says quietly into her ear again "Bed now."

She then swallows hard and nods her head, as she does as she's told and goes to get on the bed, and as she then lays on her back watching him strip his clothes off, she finds that the butterflies are starting grow in her stomach with her anticipation, as well as it being the familiar feeling she always gets now whether it's him stripping himself or if it is her doing it. He only gets as far as stripping down to just his trousers, but he does strip his socks off, which she is happy about, because she also has a real thing about his feet being a turn on for her, and even if he stays in his trousers he does also strip the belt away from the loops and lets it drop to the floor, as he then joins her on the bed, he straddles her and begins to caress her body softly through her night dress. Even though they have made love so many times now, her nerves still seem to worm their way into her, despite that though as he senses them start to hit he will always "Relax" in her ear before he starts to nibble and graze on the spot just below her ear, which she has soon found is a favourite spot to her and she always loves the way that he soon gets her to relax and as she does she becomes more responsive. As his hands started to wander underneath her night dress and she arched into him, she could feel his growing hardness against her, as she broke their kiss and said "Off" because of the way she'd been struggling to find a way of getting access to his trousers to get them undone, although as he pressed himself up on his hands and gave a little chuckle as he said "You're a bossy little thing aren't you?" She realised that it must have come out more like an order than she had actually meant it to be. As he then sat up to start straddling her again, he let her undo the button and zipper, before he then got off the bed to strip them off. When he got on the bed again to straddle her once again, he once again grinned at her as he repeated the "Off" back at her again over her night dress. So she then sat up and slowly stripped it off, before initiating a kiss and then pulling him down with her, as they slowly made love.

Afterwards they curled up into each others arms and fell asleep, just for about an hour though before they got up to have their food and spend a quiet night together.

Over the next few days things started to progress with the case against Sprong, but it also became a mixture of reunions and new beginnings all round. The first thing was a reunion with Tess's grandmother on her mom's side, but sadly her grandfather had passed away a couple of years before. Luckily as well her grandmother had kept the box and it had gone with them each and every time they had moved. When they checked the contents out it had everything that Sprong had sent to her mom and dad as well as all the records that they had kept of what he had done in between the times that he had sent gifts and notes and things. When Benny had got in touch with her grandmother she had agreed that she would just see Bull and Tess, but at that first meeting Bull had explained to her grandmother about how Sprong had now made his obsession about Tess and was doing the same to her, as well as about her having run to Paris, along with also telling her about what they had discovered while Tess was missing and that all of her father's convictions had now been called into question, and that it now could be looking like there may be a possibility that Sprong could have killed her daughter and Tess's mom. After that he had then left both Tess and her grandmother to talk alone and her grandmother confessed to her that she had wanted to remain in contact with Tess after she had gone into the care system, but the people at social services wouldn't allow her to do it. Both she and her grandfather had thought at the time that her father had had something to do with her mom's murder and that she had used the excuse about being in his class and her being there in it because she had wanted to protect her father, but with what Bull had just said about things and thinking about it all they may have just made that conclusion because they'd had one detective Sprong in their ears constantly, so they were tending to believe his story rather than theirs because after all he was a cop. If it was needed then she would now be prepared to give a statement about what he had done and said if it would help them, especially as in many ways it was probably about time that all of them stood together as her family against Sprong. Seeing as over the years and because of her father ending up in prison and things, plus nearly being sent back once again by Sprong recently attempting it, she and her father's relationship had really badly broken down and they were now finally on their own road to recovery with their relationship, thanks to of course Bull's help as well. What also helps Tess snap out of her thoughts at what her grandmother has said comes when she then says that they will all stand together for both her grandfather and mother and get the justice finally for them both, because she knows that when her grandfather passed away he would have had a reunion with his daughter once again and he would have learnt the truth from her about things, so they should stand strong together as a family to get the justice for them all and help to prevent anything from happening to Tess, because she also knows that she would have been very worried about her safety if she had known about Tess having gone missing. After that her grandmother then surprises her as she asks Tess if she's in love with Bull, when she admits that she is, her grandmother then tells her that she is very happy for her as he seems like he is a very good man and she knows that her mom would have very much approved of him and would have really love him too.. So Tess then tells her about how the two of them had gone to her mom's grave just before the two of them returned to Paris, and that as they walked away from the grave she had a feeling as though she could feel her mom's presence around them and that she did approve things about the two of them being together. After saying it her grandmother then took her hand and said that she could very well understand that feeling because she herself had had the exact same relationship with both her great grandmother as well as her mom. She obviously didn't want to replace her mom in any way, but Tess was to know that she would always be there for her, so at anytime she wanted to or felt that she needed to talk to anyone other than those people that were around her, then she could her or go to see her about anything that she needed too. Plus next time that Sprong ended up trying something again and at anytime she felt like she had to run then she could go to her, rather than go to the UK or Paris once again, of course her only proviso would be that she had to make sure that she called Bull as well to let him know where she was, so that he didn't end up worrying about her himself again. Just before the two of them left a bit later on she then made the both of them promise that they would go round to dinner at some time, so that she could get to know Bull better and the two of them promise that they would do so.

That night when the two of them get home and enjoy a night together, as they finally settle down to go to sleep after making love, as she falls asleep Tess realises that she's starting to feel like her life is finally coming together, as she's with a man that she loves very much, her family have started to work towards getting their family relationship together again and for the first time in her life she's starting to feel a lot more confident in herself and is very determined that all of them will finally find out the truth about Sprong and that they will succeed in beating him once and for all.


End file.
